Xiao Xi truly believed it this time.
After all, Ye Xinglan had described everything so accurately—no ordinary person could have ever seen her in this special form!
She hadn’t even told her teammates about this, and no one else had ever seen this form either, because every monster and freak who had seen it before was reduced to ashes by her.
Oh, there was one exception—the Blood Moon Witch had also crossed paths with this form, but Ye Xinglan was definitely not the Blood Moon Witch.
Xiao Xi now understood why Ye Xinglan hated Eternal Star so much; it was a classic case of love turning into hate! Judging by Ye Xinglan’s tone just now, she truly despised Eternal Star with every fiber of her being.
No wonder Ye Xinglan believed those sketchy rumors about Eternal Star.
After all, she already had a preconceived notion of Eternal Star as a “jerk girl.”
Seeing similar negative news only made it easier to believe.
Xiao Xi swallowed nervously as guilt for deceiving Ye Xinglan washed over her.
At this point, she couldn’t bring herself to confess that she was Eternal Star!
Wait—shouldn’t she be the one to come forward and take responsibility to Ye Xinglan? Even if what happened wasn’t entirely her fault, she definitely didn’t want to be the “jerk girl”!
But soon, Xiao Xi bitterly laughed to herself, feeling she didn’t deserve such thoughts.
How could a little rich lady like Ye Xinglan ever like someone like her—a poor girl who could barely pay rent?
Take responsibility? What could she even do?
Though they were currently living together, Xiao Xi was always clear about her place.
She never expected a “domineering heiress falls in love with me” plotline to happen in real life.
Ye Xinglan, who had been quietly watching Xiao Xi’s expression, worried her lies would be exposed, suddenly noticed Xiao Xi’s face turning pale and guilty.
How strange—shouldn’t she be the one feeling guilty for lying? What was Xiao Xi guilty about?
But Ye Xinglan quickly understood.
Xiao Xi was a fan of Eternal Star; hearing such damaging rumors about her idol naturally hurt.
So, it seemed she had successfully kept the secret.
Hehe, she believed it—she really believed it! Looks like her acting skills were pretty good.
…
But two days later, Ye Xinglan started sensing something was off.
In these two days, Xiao Xi had been overly attentive to her, constantly bringing her tea and acting suspiciously nice.
Ye Xinglan even started to wonder if Xiao Xi was trying to chase her.
Like today, Ye Xinglan was slouched on the sofa playing games when Xiao Xi silently walked over carrying a cup of tea.
“Xinglan, lying down for so long, aren’t you tired? Want me to massage your legs?”
“Huh? Mm-hmm.”
Ye Xinglan, focused on her game, barely heard Xiao Xi and replied absentmindedly.
After finishing her game, she snapped back to reality to find Xiao Xi still diligently massaging her legs like an obedient little maid.
If she wasn’t fit to be responsible for this matter, then she’d have to make it up to Ye Xinglan in other ways.
“Sigh…”
Ye Xinglan let out a complicated sigh and signaled for Xiao Xi to stop.
“Xiao Xi, you don’t have to do so much. I know what you mean.”
Xiao Xi’s heart tightened.
What did she mean?
Had Ye Xinglan figured out her identity and what she was really up to?
Ye Xinglan ruffled Xiao Xi’s hair. “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t tell anyone about you secretly playing with your little toys late at night. You don’t have to keep flattering me.”
“Who the hell is flattering you because of that! And I already said I didn’t do it!” Xiao Xi instantly lost her cool.
“Alright, alright, you didn’t do it.”
Ye Xinglan waved her hand perfunctorily, choosing to go along.
She wanted to keep playing anyway.
She’d just found a magical girl-themed game she was interested in.
Xiao Xi huffed and stormed back to her room, just as her editor messaged her, so she had to reply.
“The new book’s data is pretty good. Let’s try getting a recommendation next week and see how it goes.”
Xiao Xi silently said “yes” in her heart, then asked the question on her mind—the income situation.
“You currently get 300 yuan per month for contract attendance. Subscription income will only come after your work is published…”
After a brief chat with her editor, Xiao Xi’s initial excitement dropped again.
She suddenly realized something—just relying on writing novels, she probably wouldn’t earn much these two months.
Her book was still new; it wouldn’t be published until next month.
And after that, the payment for that month’s work wouldn’t arrive until the following month.
Counting all that, 300 yuan from the contract definitely wasn’t enough.
She still had 500 yuan left from what Xiao Keke sent her before, so she could live frugally for a while.
But the month was ending soon, and next month’s rent was a looming problem.
Xiao Xi had already borrowed from Ye Xinglan once; she didn’t want to keep owing rent.
She was supposed to have a salary working at the Magical Girl Association, but she was only there under Miss L’s arrangement in name.
Plus, she had initially agreed to help Miss L with some tasks in exchange for intel on the Blood Moon Witch.
She felt awkward asking old teammates about payment.
Looking at it this way, to cover the rent for these two months, she definitely needed to find a job that paid quickly.
With no other options, Xiao Xi reopened a job app.
This time, she had no demands about the job itself but added several conditions.
The workplace had to be near home, and there needed to be a lunch break so she could come back and cook for Ye Xinglan.
She also preferred a half-day shift so that if Miss L needed her, she’d have time.
Plus, she had to keep time for writing.
Though she wouldn’t earn money quickly, writing was finally showing some progress, so she didn’t want to give it up. Who wouldn’t want to earn more?
Filtering through all these, it should’ve been harder to find a suitable job.
Xiao Xi felt a headache coming on, but after filtering, she was surprised to find one job that perfectly matched her needs—a café waitress near South Street.
That was so close to home!
She hurriedly contacted the employer and quickly got a reply.
“Come to the store this afternoon for an interview…” Xiao Xi clenched her fists and cheered herself on silently.
As long as she persisted, life would only get sweeter!
Just as Xiao Xi stepped out of her room, Ye Xinglan, lying on the sofa, called out to her.
“Xiao Xi, come play games with me this afternoon. I found a fun one.”
“Ah, sorry, I have to go out this afternoon.”
Ye Xinglan didn’t say anything but pouted in displeasure.
Tch, wasn’t she not trying to flatter her?
She just promised to keep quiet about Xiao Xi’s late-night toy sessions, and now she was already starting to ignore her?